A Pittsburgh woman claims a city police officer drew his gun, aimed it at her and threatened her when she objected to a drug suspect being beaten during an arrest.

"When that officer pointed his gun at me, I felt my life was over," said Northview Heights Citizens Council President Valerie Lauw, who said she had shouted to protest what she considered excessive force by city police arresting drug suspect Victor Pinkston after a car and foot chase that ended on her street on Wednesday, Aug. 7.

"Once they have him down, they start kicking him, hitting him," said Lauw.

"My mom's screaming, 'No, no, don't beat him, don't beat him. Stop, stop,'" said Lauw's daughter, Diva Elmore, who said she was trying to get her mother to retreat when the weapon was allegedly pointed towards both of them.

Lauw said of the officer, "While he's kneeling down on the suspect, turns his gun to me and says, 'You better get out of here, or else I'll shoot now.' I said, 'Oh, my God, you're going to shoot me?'"

Elmore said he was a plainclothes officer, and she did not learn his name. "(He was) pointing a gun at my mom, like directly at me and my mom, because I'm right beside her trying to tell her to move back," said Elmore.

Lauw said a neighbor also urged her to back off. '"Please Valerie, please Valerie, back up, back up.' At that point, I begin to back up. But I'm saying all along, 'You do not have to beat him. He's already down.'"

Assistant Pittsburgh Police Chief George Trosky said he reviewed video of the incident from Pittsburgh Housing Authority security cameras. He said there is no video of an officer drawing a gun on Valerie Lauw and no video to support her account of what happened.

"There's no reason why these cameras should not have picked up everything that transpired," responded Lauw, who says she's filing a complaint with the independent Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board.

The Pittsburgh Police Bureau said last week that "large, hostile crowds" gathered in the neighborhood after the police apprehension of Pinkston.

The bureau said narcotics detectives on patrol in unmarked cars began chasing the car Pinkston was driving after it was driving the wrong way on a one-way street. The car chase ended on Hazlett Street in Northview Heights when Pinkston's car was blocked by concrete barriers, police said.

Police say while he was fleeing on foot, he dropped several boxes containing more than $17,000 worth of heroin. Police say Pinkston fell on the ground and injured his face, then placed his hands under his body to resist being handcuffed.

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